Originally Posted by Advisor (Post 22985)

Hi,I am already approaching 39 very soon.I am leading a very balanced life right now.Spending time with family and finding the time to exercise.In addition I have time for personal development i.e. Reading widely on whole range of topics that interest me.But I need to emphasize I live a simple lifestyle.HDB and driving 1.5l japanese car.Therefore I don't need a lot of money.The place I am staying is fully paid and my child's education is provided for sufficiently.Having said that I was pretty sharp and decisive with investments taking bit of risks along with them.But I was proven right most of the time :) That is why I am able to retire from full time fixed salary work before the age of 40.

Originally Posted by Advisor (Post 22985)

Hi,I am already approaching 39 very soon.I am leading a very balanced life right now.Spending time with family and finding the time to exercise.In addition I have time for personal development i.e. Reading widely on whole range of topics that interest me.But I need to emphasize I live a simple lifestyle.HDB and driving 1.5l japanese car.Therefore I don't need a lot of money.The place I am staying is fully paid and my child's education is provided for sufficiently.Having said that I was pretty sharp and decisive with investments taking bit of risks along with them.But I was proven right most of the time :) That is why I am able to retire from full time fixed salary work before the age of 40.

Originally Posted by lazyplane (Post 23005)

Retire at 40 ? Simple lifestyle ?

Say you live to 80 with $2000 month expenses, that is 960k.
Ok, discount that amount due to time value of money etc etc.

Then consider you said you earn 6500 at age of say 37 (in 2010) ?
If you are male, degree holder , singaporean serving NS, you had 13-15 years working life. And say you saved 4500 per month for that 13 years..
you only get 800+k.

Then u had to pay your hdb flat, and child education etc...

I think you struck rich big via your investment. Definitely not via salary and saving. Most likely bought a 2nd property in 2004 -2007 etc.

Originally Posted by Advisor (Post 23023)

No wonder my friend warned me not to post online for sometimes there may be unkind responses.Just wanted to share my experiences that's all.I guess $3 million should be sufficient to retire from FULL TIME FIXED SALARY WORK at age 40.Returns from investments for my case is btw 5-10% per annum.These include dividends,capital growth and rental incomes.Yeah,guess I built my wealth thru investments over the years certainly not from savings and salary only.I still work albeit on a flexible work arrangement as an education advisor.

But hey this post should be about the teaching career and not investments and financial independence right?

Originally Posted by Advisor (Post 23023)

No wonder my friend warned me not to post online for sometimes there may be unkind responses.Just wanted to share my experiences that's all.I guess $3 million should be sufficient to retire from FULL TIME FIXED SALARY WORK at age 40.Returns from investments for my case is btw 5-10% per annum.These include dividends,capital growth and rental incomes.Yeah,guess I built my wealth thru investments over the years certainly not from savings and salary only.I still work albeit on a flexible work arrangement as an education advisor.

But hey this post should be about the teaching career and not investments and financial independence right?

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 23024)

Hi Advisor, I appreciate all your sharing. Please ignore the unkind responses - it's the nature of internet communication where juveniles and the immature hide behind anonymity and become their alter ego. Perhaps it's due to the pressure of the society (maybe especially so in Singapore). This forum is already quite ok... check out others like channelnewsasia and hardwarezone where remarks can be much worse!

Originally Posted by Advisor (Post 23033)

Thanks for your encouragement.Guess I dun really belong here since I dun frequent forums actively.I still got a long way to learn about the art of investing from the gurus.Guess I have made a bit of progress over the last 14 years of my working life.But I look forward to continued progress.My sense is that you will also go on to do very well in life too if u start on the right financial footing.U know many of my peers in secondary school are top biz man,lawyers,doctors and civil servants.So in comparison I really am below them in terms of career and financial achievements.Not many members of the public hold teachers in high regard unfortunately :(

Originally Posted by Unregistered (Post 23028)

Wow!! Really envy the fact that you have achieved financial freedom so early.. Many pple wish to be in your shoes right now... Care to share abit more on what were the investments that helped you accumulate so much wealth in such a short time??

Originally Posted by Advisor (Post 23040)

U really flatter me.The $3m refers to assets under management currently.My net worth is nowhere near that but I am surviving though on a passive income of $6k per month.There is no secret actually.Properties,blue chips,fixed income and trust funds generate the cash flow for me.Oh for the record no inheritance or parents money for me at all.I had to build from scratch over a long period of time.